BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY

The novel started life as a series of newspaper columns and is soon to debut as a motion picture. It gives a comic glimpse into a year's worth of diary entries by the title heroine, a single British working woman in her early 30's. Tracie Bennett makes her a fully dimensional character. Listening to her, even men will say to themselves, "There but for the grace of God go I." Bridget's foibles, anxieties, humiliations, frustrations and heartbreaks, as Bennett presents them, are too real and personal to elicit laughter; we can't laugh at the expense of someone we know so intimately. The amusement we take is gentler than that inspired by the paper Bridget. The careful abridgment is just the right length for such passionate acting. A truly stellar job. Y.R. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 98]